Kim Jong-un meets with South Korean President's special envoy

The South Korean delegation bows before boarding a plane to North Korea on September 5. Photo: Yonhap

“The special delegation met with Kim Jong-un to deliver a personal letter from Moon and exchange views,” the presidential office in Seoul, the Blue House, said in a brief statement.

The statement came hours after Chung Eui-yong, Moon's senior security adviser and head of the South Korean president's National Security Council, arrived in North Korea on a planned one-day trip.

“The special envoys plan to leave Pyongyang after attending the dinner,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, adding that it was not yet clear who would host the dinner.

Mr. Chung led a five-member delegation, including the head of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, Suh Hoon, and South Korea's Vice Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung.

Chung had previously said he hoped to meet the North Korean leader during his one-day trip to Pyongyang but had not made any arrangements for the possibility.

The visit to North Korea by Mr. Moon's special envoy delegation is largely aimed at arranging the third inter-Korean summit between Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim.

Chung and four other members of the South Korean delegation currently in North Korea visited the capital Pyongyang in March for a meeting with the North Korean leader that eventually led to the historic summit between Moon and Kim at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27.

They held their second bilateral summit at Panmunjom on May 26, followed by a historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.

Mr. Moon and Mr. Kim have agreed to meet in Pyongyang this September.

“First, the delegation will seek to set a specific date for the South-North Korea summit that the countries agreed to hold in Pyongyang in September,” Chung said at a press conference on September 4.

“Second, the delegation will discuss ways to develop South-North relations through implementing the Panmunjom Declaration,” he added.

However, South Korean officials are also expected to make efforts to break the current deadlock in denuclearization negotiations between the US and North Korea.

“The special envoy also plans to hold discussions on ways to achieve complete denuclearization and establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Chung said.

Denuclearization talks between the US and North Korea appear to have reached an unprecedented level following the historic US-North Korea summit in June.

However, these negotiations stopped after Trump canceled a planned visit to North Korea by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, citing a lack of progress in North Korea's denuclearization process.

Mr. Chung, who said he would deliver a personal letter from Mr. Moon to Mr. Kim, noted that he could also convey the U.S. stance to North Korea.

“We have always been in close communication with the US. We also shared information regarding the visit of this special delegation to North Korea and held close discussions,” he said.

Chung's trip comes amid concerns about a possible gap between the pace of inter-Korean relations and progress in denuclearization efforts, especially after the third Moon-Kim summit.

Many in South Korea and the United States believe that any development in South-North Korean relations followed by increased economic cooperation between the two Koreas could weaken or eliminate North Korea's need or willingness to denuclearize in exchange for security guarantees and economic support from the United States and its allies.

In a phone call with President Trump on September 4, Mr. Moon affirmed that improvements in inter-Korean relations will only further aid efforts to denuclearize North Korea.

“Mr. Moon was determined that the improvement in South-North Korea relations and the reduction of tensions on the Korean Peninsula will contribute to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said of the Moon-Trump talks.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chung asserted that an improvement in inter-Korean relations could even help break the deadlocked denuclearization talks between the United States and North Korea.

“We believe that the development of South-North relations can be a driving force for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and we can move forward negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the development of South-North relations if necessary,” he said on September 4.